Tweets Of The Week - KP, Warne, Smith & Strauss

Cricket Twitter this week was a continuation of the Kevin Pietersen saga which has gripped the headlines. The usual characters voiced their opinions on the topic which has the potential to divide what was thought to be a very stable dressing room. John Pryor takes his weekly look back at the best of the cricket tweets from the last seven days.

When England defeated India to become the number one ranked Test Match team, few would have predicted that there was dissention within the ranks but reports in the news this week suggest that Pietersen’s issues in the dressing room have been a long-term thing.

One of the major talking points of last week has been who was behind the Kevin Pietersen parody account which he had taken offence to. Graeme Swann (‏@Swannyg66) used Twitter to comically deny his involvement: “The KP parody account has nothing to do with me. It's obvious, only 1 in 4 are funny.”

Others waded in to voice their opinions on KP’s omission from the Test side this week and to speculate about his future involvement in the England setup. Michael Vaughan tweeted, “IMO leaving KP out this week is the right decision…Clearly 2 many issues that can't be resolved in a few days but will be in time...'trust and mutual respect' required for KP to come back into the England team... That will take a little bit of time but it will happen.”

Rather hilariously he later added “Surely what the ECB really needs now is the implementation of a 'Naughty Step' - what do you think @Claresk1nner pic.twitter.com/rSWya7O9 lol,” accompanied by a picture of himself sitting on the pavilion steps at Lord's.

David 'Bumble' Lloyd (‏@BumbleCricket) encouraged both parties to put the past behind them and move on with things: “Dust settles very quickly. All parties should move on quickly. Bit of face to face straight talk, handshake, move on, wiser, better.”

Meanwhile, in the West Indies, Chris Gayle (‏@henrygayle) had emerged from his slumber to see whether KP would feature in the Test Match after all: “Up 4-30am to see if any last min KP would get a late call... But its Real, No @kevinpp24! So I'm off to Bed!!!”

While most were content to suggest ways that the ECB and Kevin Pietersen could resolve their issues, Shane Warne (@warne888) used the current situation to verbally attack the England team management and leadership: “Team = all in it together as a unit But everyone is different, it's up to the leadership group to make everyone feel special & important… And get the best out of the individual's & create an environment that people can be the best they can be…That's leadership! For English cricket to be in this situation after so much good work, there's only one way now for our friendly English buddies…And that's unfortunately down the rankings... It's hard to work out how it has got this bad Management and leadership has to be looked at...”

But Warne was not done yet, adding, “Last point, it’s more important to be respected than liked in a team environment & for that matter in life, only way you get respect - earn it. So, if the England players have lost respect for KP & KP them – it’s irrelevant whether they like him or not… I didn't like some players !”

Warne was not just in on the Twitter action over KP, he also unleashed his feminine side on the most public of stages: "“50 shades darker is a romance novel" Get in touch with your romantic & feminine side guys!!!!!... What's wrong with being happy, in love and showing your feminine side as a man occasionally ?? Girls out there back me up please !!!” Perhaps it is no surprise to hear that he was named un-Australian of the year back in January.

Amongst the controversy and Warne’s musings there were words of celebration and congratulations spread around Twitter.

In celebration of the London Olympic Games Swann made several pledges: “To pay homage to the most amazing olympics I'm going to sing the national anthem nightly at the top of my voice before turning in…..This is the platform uncle boris has been waiting for. If he's not president of the world before the Rio olympics I'll sell my body on eBay.” Let’s hope he keeps his word, any bidders?

Alongside this Andrew Strauss and Graeme Smith were both congratulated on reaching career landmarks, Strauss reached 100 caps with Smith becoming the most capped Test captain ever.

Luke Wright ‏(@lukewright204) tweeted, “Congrats to Andrew Strauss on his 100 caps! Great achievement. As a player you couldn't ask for a better captain and a lovely bloke too.”

AB de Villiers (‏@ABdeVilliers17) joined in tweeting, “As we stop @ Lords a quick congrats to both Captains. @GraemeSmith49 with his Captaincy record and Andrew Strauss with 100 tests. Here we go.”

There were also plaudits for those who had been nominated for cricketing awards this week. Though not nominated himself, James Anderson ‏(@JimmyAnderson9) tweeted, “Congrats to @MattPrior13, @StuartBroad8 and Alastair Cook on their nominations for cricketer and test cricketer of the year. V well deserved.”

What was not offered by anybody was an explanation as why Jimmy wasn’t nominated, #bestbowlerinenglishcricket.